An Angel On Earth Hides More Than Just Her Wings
by fictionlynchick
Summary: Ray had never seen or heard anything about Christy Collins before. But now that he's met her, he realizes that Christy is more beautiful, and has many more secrets, than he could ever have imagined, but their relationship is threatened by stereotyping.
1. Hello

An Angel On Earth Hides More Than Just Her Wings 

A/N: Again, a note from the author before we kick this story off. This story fits nowhere into the scheme of things, it's just a product of my imagination which REALLY needs to get out more.

Christy, Christiana, whichever you choose to call her, is mine, and any family or whatever that make appearances or are mentioned are mine. Anyone you don't recognize is mine. The rest… are not mine. Let's leave it at that.

This will be another work of 'lyric fiction' as I call them, with a song lyric in every chapter. I'm trying to break myself of this habit, but it's hard. Oh well. Enjoy anyway.

Chapter 1 - Hello 

"And… he fell for it! He actually fell for it! You should have been there!" Ray finally cracked up at the thought of his teacher believing his excuse.

Lily raised a blond eyebrow at him and took another bite out of her apple. "Uh huh. Sure." She glanced down at her watch. "Uh… Ray… don't you have chemistry next?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Oh nothing… I'm just wondering how you're going to get there on time when the bell is ringing in fifteen seconds and the science labs are on the other side of the school, on the second floor."

Ray looked down at his own watch. "Oh shoot… you're right. Why are you just standing here if the bell is going to ring?"

Lily smiled. "Because I was smart enough to stand right in front of my next class." The bell rang and she entered the room.  
Ray's eyes suddenly widened as the meaning of his friend's words sunk in, and he ran down the corridor.

* * *

"Mr Brennan, you're late. Again." The tall man looked down at Ray. "We have just picked lab partners, but you were – ahem – not present, so your lab partner has been chosen for you." He gestured towards the far bench where a girl with long black hair sat, her back turned.

As he walked over to the bench, Robbie mouthed 'sorry' at him and gestured to the pretty blonde girl beside him. Ray smiled and shook his head at his best friend.

He sat down on the end of the bench and noticed that his new lab partner was singing softly to the song in her CD player, her back still turned. Edging closer, he realized something.

She had an amazing voice. It was soft, but beautiful. He couldn't hear the song that she was playing, but he guessed that it was a ballad from the way she was moving to the rhythm.

He tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned. "What?"

His eyes widened as he took her in. She was wearing thick black eyeliner, lots of  black mascara, and dark red lipstick. Her clothes were all black, down to her boots. A necklace with a Celtic cross pendant hung around her neck.__

_My lab partner… is completely gothic._

"Uh… nothing. I'm Ray Brennan." _Go the direct route, why not?_

"Christiana Collins, call me Christy." She stuck her hand out for him to shake, and Ray noticed the black nail polish.

"Nice to… meet you. Why were you, as Stephens said, 'chosen'? Did you choose to get the late guy or something?"

She shook her head. "Nobody wants to be my partner, so I figured, why not? Take a chance on whoever walks into the room."

Ray suddenly felt sorry for this girl. She was clearly a loner, preferring to have no friends and simply live by her own rules.

"So… what are you listening to?" _Good Brennan… change the subject._

"Evanescence."

_Typical.___

"Want to listen?" She offered him one earpiece.

He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Ray wasn't as musical as Lily, but he did have an ear for lyrics. The lyrics of the song that was playing scared him to say the least.

It was actually fascinating though. Amy Lee had an incredible voice, and Christy sounded just like her.

He kept listening while they worked on the assigned questions. The song that Christy had been singing came on again, and he recognized it immediately.

Playground school bell rings again

Rain clouds come to play again

Has no one told you she's not breathing

Hello I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to

Hello

If I smile and don't believe

Soon I know I'll wake from this dream

Don't try to fix me I'm not broken

Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide

Don't cry

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping

Hello I'm still here

All that's left of yesterday

Evanescence – Hello

The song ended and Christy pressed repeat. As the first few bars played, she started to sing along.

She looked so beautiful, sitting there on the lab bench with her eyes closed, singing along to the music only the two of them could hear.

_Wait. Why am I thinking of her as… a girl? She's just… my lab partner. Besides I… I like Lily!_

_But Lily doesn't have as great a voice as her._

_What?!? Shut up, Brennan! Quit while you're ahead!_

Christy looked over at him. "Did you say something?"

"What?" Ray jumped and realized he'd been thinking out loud. "No… nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"Oh. Ok then."

He looked over at her work and saw a neat little picture of Mr Stephens in the margin of the paper. It was an exact replica of him, down to the weird tuft on top of his head.

_So not only is she a singer… she's an artist too._

He tapped Christy on the shoulder. "That's good."

"What? Oh… that? That's just doodling in my spare time."

"It's really good though."

Christy shrugged and added a little book in his hand. "It's ok, I guess."

Ray raised an eyebrow at her and went back to his work.

_What can't she do? She sings, she draws… I bet she's a writer too._

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she shaded in her picture. She seemed to be able to draw without even having to try, and that fascinated him.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and Christy opened her binder to file her work. As she flipped it open, Ray noticed many other drawings in the margins. Some were of various teachers; some of students. The main thing they all had in common were little speech bubbles or a neat line of writing underneath.

He leaned closer to see, but she snapped the binder shut, not realizing that he was watching her. Ray caught himself staring at her as she left.

_Why do I feel this way about Christy? She's just another girl… a beautiful, talented, smart girl. What's wrong with me? I was confused enough when I realized that I liked Lily, but this is too much._

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and ran off to his next class, still confused about what this all meant.


	2. Bring Me To Life

Chapter 2 – Bring Me To Life 

Dedication: To Celeste – you are a better friend than anyone could ever wish for. You're sweet, you're smart, but most of all you're supportive. Everyone should be allowed to know someone like you.

* * *

Ray tapped his fingers on the table, staring at the clock. Both Lily and Robbie were late, which was pretty unusual as Robbie was never late for anything.

A moment later, Robbie raced into the station, Lily close behind him. "Sorry we're late, I was just telling Lily about who Stephens put you with in chem."

Lily laughed and took her seat. "I can't believe he put you with Christiana Collins of all people. She's in my music class, and she always writes lyrics about death and sadness, and suicide, and did I mention death? She's really depressing."

Ray gave her a funny look. "Christy's not THAT bad."

"Sure… she's only THE BIGGEST GOTH THAT ROSCOE HAS EVER SEEN! Why are you defending her, anyway? Before today you didn't even know that she existed."

Ray flinched and held a hand to his heart. "Ouch beautiful lady… that shot went straight to home."

Travis looked up from where he was adjusting the controls in the sound booth. "Buddha said that if you simply judge by outer appearances, you are no better than one who is blind."

Lily raised an eyebrow at Travis. "Sure. I'll take your word on that. So Ray, why are you so defensive towards someone you've never noticed before, never cared about before, and have absolutely NOTHING in common with?"

Robbie held up his hands and applauded. "Good question Lily… a very good question that I for one would like to know the answer to. So what do you have to say about this, Ray?"

"Ok… why is everyone making this out into such a big deal? We're partnered together, and all I did was talk to her and find out that she's not as bad as she looks."

Travis held up his fingers. "We're on in five… four… three… two… one." He paused to turn up the volumes on their microphones. "You're on the air."

"This is Radio…"

"Free…"

"Roscoe, the voice of Roscoe High."

"I'm Question Mark and I'm wondering, is it normal to care about someone you barely know? Shady Lane, your thoughts?"

Lily smirked at Ray as she leaned into the microphone to speak. "If it's a crush… no. If you wouldn't even look at this person under any circumstances… I'd say yes." She straightened up and smiled innocently at Ray, whose mouth was fully open. "Pronto, you got anything to add to that? Or are you just going to work on your goldfish impressions?"

"Uh… um… I think it's fine. Yeah. Totally and completely fine… uh huh… Smog! Smog.  What do you… um… what do you think about… whatever the topic was. Since you never really speak, I wanna hear what you think."

Travis rolled his eyes. "Alright then, Pronto, I'll humor you. I think that love should never be rushed, but a spark should never be blown out; it should be sheltered and fed to keep it burning. But on the other hand, you don't want to rush and suffocate it with too much wood. It should burn slowly, but it will ultimately last for so much longer."

Ray toyed with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not really sure I understood that. Alright, to the public! What do YOU think about the subject… whatever it is?"

Travis held up a clipboard with the caller's name on it.

Robbie leaned into his microphone. 'Ok Golden Phoenix, what do you think?"

A smooth female voice that sounded very familiar came over the line. "Love is amazing. You should never rush love, because I had a crush on a guy for a long time. When we finally got together, we took things slow, and now we have a great relationship."

Ray glanced over at Travis and realized that he was blushing. _Audrey_, he thought, shaking his head.

They took a few more calls, then Travis cut to a song and slipped off his headphones.

"Was that Audrey?" Lily was laughing at Travis, who was still red. He nodded slowly, and Lily laughed harder. "Oh my gosh, I cannot BELIEVE you didn't tell us! I mean, I knew you guys liked each other, but… oh my gosh!"

Robbie's eyes widened and he tapped Lily on the shoulder. "Lily, shut up."

"Why–" Lily fell silent just as the song ended.

"Alright, we're back, and ready to take your song requests. Smog?" Robbie turned to the sound booth, and Travis held up his clipboard.

"Fallen Angel, you're on the air."

"I'd like to hear 'Bring Me To Life' by Evanescence and Paul McCoy, and I'm dedicating this song to someone that I just met, and someone that I'd like to know better, Ray Brennan."

A silence filled the room as everyone realized who was on the line. Travis quietly slotted in the CD and pressed play.

For once, Robbie was too surprised to speak. Lily was wondering about what was going on between this new girl and her best friend, Travis was being his usual silent self and Ray was just confused about what all this meant.

How can you see into my eyes like open doors  
Leading you down into my core  
Where I've become so numb

Without a soul

My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold   
Until you find it there and lead it back home  
  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become  
  
Now that I know what I'm without  
You can't just leave me  
Breathe into me and make me real  
Bring me to life  
  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become

Bring me to life  
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)  
Bring me to life  
  
Frozen inside without your touch

Without your love darling

Only you are the life among the dead  
  
(All this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me)  
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
Got to open my eyes to everything  
(Without a thought

Without a voice

Without a soul)   
Don't let me die here   
(There must be something more)  
Bring me to life  
  
(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become  
  
Bring me to life  
(I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside)  
Bring me to life

Evanescence feat. Paul McCoy – Bring Me To Life

* * *


	3. Forgive Me

Chapter 3 – Forgive Me 

Ray threw his gym bag into his messy locker and grabbed his Science books. He was late for class again, but it didn't really matter all that much to him.

Stephens looked up at him as he entered the classroom and sighed. "Well class, now that you're all here –" he looked pointedly at Ray " – we can begin. You will be working on project handouts today, preparing for your presentations at the end of this month. You will be expected to have some sort of visual aid with information on your topic with equal involvement of the two partners. Get started."

Christy already had her textbook open and was jotting down notes. She looked up at Ray as he sat down. "Ok, so before you came Stephens assigned topics. We're doing lithium, and presenting on the 28th, so we need to practice soon, meet up at someone's house or something." She reached into her bag to take out her CD player.

"How about a poster or a skit or something? That would work for a 'visual aid'." He popped a piece of gum in his mouth to watch her reaction.

She considered the idea. "How exactly would we present the skit? I mean, you can't just go up there and say 'Hi my name is Lithium, I'm poisonous and I explode if you put me in water, any questions?'. I think a poster would be easier. Plus there's more stuff for information, and you can decorate the poster. With a skit the only thing you can decorate are the costumes, and I'm not sewing any frilly tank tops or anything."

Ray froze mid-chew. "For me or for you?"

There it was again: that beautiful, rare smile that he couldn't figure out how he'd missed it before. "Probably for me, even though forcing you to wear something like that WOULD be interesting."

He'd never seen such a bold and feisty expression on Christy's face, but all he knew was that he wanted to see it again. It brought out a completely new dimension to her personality.

Not that that was a bad thing.

His eyes subconsciously strayed to her face again, and he got a strange feeling. Something that suggested that he'd seen Christy before he'd been paired up with her.

He knew he'd never noticed her existence before, but he couldn't help wondering about this gut feeling that he got whenever he looked at her.

_Where have I seen her before?_

_And why does she get to me so much?_

Ray's gaze fell upon her open notebook, a few drawings scattered loosely from where they had fallen from the book.

A horse reared in the soft moonlight, its mane wild as it called out into the darkness. Fairies flew around two children, who stared at the magic that the pixies wove around them. A rabbit scampered through the fields of flowers, a small bird flying overhead.

All the drawings were so realistic that Ray could almost reach out to stroke the untamed creature, almost see the sparks flying from the fairies' wands, almost catch the tiny creature darting through the meadow. Everything was real, and everything was beautiful.

He turned the page, and stopped short as he realized what was drawn there. It was beautiful and ugly, real and unreal, wonderful and horrible, all at the same time. An angel stared out from the page, but she wasn't an ordinary angel playing the harp among the clouds.

She lay huddled in the corner of an alley, her robes torn and dirty and wings clearly broken. Blood pooled from somewhere underneath her robes and her hair was dull and lifeless, a tangled mess around her head. A small teardrop was on her cheek.

Yet somehow, she still managed to be beautiful. Her eyes were raised upward and a hand was placed on her heart. Through all the dirt and blood, she exuded grace and beauty.

"What are you doing?"

Ray spun around to see Christy, her eyes blazing with anger. "I was just… looking at your drawings."

Her eyes narrowed and she snatched the folder from his hands. "When did I ever say you could?"

"Why are you being so defensive? It's just a bunch of drawings anyway. Why do they matter so much to you? They're not even good, all they are is a girl with wings who's bleeding. It's not even important, not like I read your diary or anything."

Christy gasped and went white like she'd just been slapped. There was a shocked silence as both teenagers took in what Ray had just said.

"Christy. I'm… I'm sorry…"

She laughed, and it was such an ugly sound that Ray flinched. "Don't worry about it. Like you said, it's not important, and they're not even good."

"Christy, really, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Right, you're sorry and didn't mean to hurt me. Well, I've heard that line too many times to believe it." She turned away from him.

With that simple movement, Ray felt worse than he ever had in his entire life.

* * *

A single teardrop fell onto the harsh tiling of the washroom.

The sound of a drop of water dripping from the tap at the same time caused the petite figure curled beside the sinks to look over from where she was staring at the floor.

She was skipping class, but it really didn't matter all that much to her. What she needed was a place to be alone by herself, just to think and be alone with her thoughts and her tears.

_Thank god that nobody comes here during classes._

The door opened, and a blonde cheerleader who Christy recognized as Sara Duvall came in and threw her a condescending stare before locking one of the doors behind her.

_Well, thank god that MOST people don't come in here during classes._

_Especially one certain person._

A slender finger, nail polished black, reached up and wiped away the tear that threatened to spill over onto the floor.

She couldn't let anyone see her cry again, not after what he had done to her when she had let that tear fall in front of him.

_"You little slut! I let you out of my sight for one moment and THIS is what you do, go and flirt with the first boy that comes your way?" A fist smashed into her arm. "This is how you repay me! After everything I've done for you, you go and flirt with the first guy you meet!"_

_She could smell the alcohol on his breath. "Please, you don't understand. It's not like that. He's just a friend-"_

_The heavy hand smashed into the back of her head this time, and she gasped in pain. "A friend? He's A FRIEND? Then why were you tossing your hair and smiling at him?"_

_"I… I was just talking to David. He's only a friend!"_

_He grabbed her and threw her roughly into the corner. As she got to her feet, shaking and terrified, he blocked her with both hands on the side of her head, his muscular arms effectively holding her in place. "You KNOW he's more than a friend to you! You know exactly what you did, you little whore!"_

_She shook her head violently and tried to escape, but he was too strong. He pushed her back against the wall and leaned close to her. "Admit it. Say that you broke the rules and you were flirting with him. Admit that you lied to me. Admit that you're sorry, you bitch, or I'll kill you."_

_She swallowed and finally spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper. "I… I lied to you."_

_"LOUDER!"_

_She flinched at the anger in his voice. "I… I lied to you… and… and…" A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and rolled down to rest on her cheek. She prayed that he hadn't seen the tiny tear, but not even God could help her._

_He laughed cruelly at the display of emotion. "Well well… is the little bitch weakening? Is the little slut going to weaken and cry now?"_

_She squeezed her eyes tight to stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes and continued. "I… I lied to you…"_

_"LOOK AT ME!"_

_She opened her eyes cautiously, willing the tears not to fall. "I… I lied to you. I was… was flir…flirting with David and I… I broke the rules, and I l…lied about break…breaking the r…rules. I'm… I'm sorry, Daddy."_

Christy's eyes opened wide and for a moment she couldn't figure out where she was.

To have someone criticise her art was painful for her. Drawing, writing and singing… all art was a form of release for her.

But to have someone criticise THAT particular drawing… was like criticising her soul. In a way… it was much, much worse than reading her diary.

Every time she looked at that angel, she was reminded of that moment when her father had thrown her into the wall and forced her to beg, forced her to beg for him to let her go.

The dying angel in the alley was her, left to suffer alone, broken and bleeding in a dark corner where nobody saw her.

* * *

The janitor came into the washroom and peered at her. "You shouldn't be in here, missy."

Christy rubbed her tired eyes and sat up. "What time is it?"

Floyd checked his watch. "Just after four."

She thanked him and walked out of the washroom, running over the list of things she had to do before her father came home that night.

_Go to locker. Go home. Get off makeup. Do homework. Cook. Change._

She hated having to be two different people every day, to be the goth that nobody paid attention to at school, then running home to be the timid servant-daughter to keep her father from hitting her.

Even though she had envied all the beautiful, popular girls with perfect hair and designer clothes when she had been younger, being the goth that nobody saw was a release from the world, just like her art.

And something else.

She looked around quickly to make sure that nobody was watching, then pulled up her long sleeves all the way to expose a series of neat, perfectly parallel cuts on her arms.

She knew that self-mutilation wasn't good, but it was a way to kill the pain. It was a way of releasing all the pain built up inside of her that she couldn't live with.

Christy quickly pulled down her sleeves, knowing that she was wasting time, and walked to her locker. As she approached, she noticed an envelope sticking through her locker vents.

_Strange. Someone must have gotten the wrong locker._

She unlocked it quickly and took the package from its slot, wondering if she could find out who it was for.

Christy checked for names on one side, then flipped it over.

There it was. The name in sloppy cursive.

Christy Collins.

Tentatively, she ran her finger along the inner flap of the envelope, breaking the seal, and pulled out the contents of a letter and a CD.

_Who would be sending me a CD?_

She slotted the CD into her player and pressed play, uncertain as to what was about to blast through the headphones.

Can you forgive me again  
I don't know what I said  
But I didn't mean to hurt you  
  
I heard the words come out  
I felt that I would die  
It hurt so much to hurt you  
  
Then you look at me  
You're not shouting anymore  
You're silently broken  
  
I'd give anything now  
To kill those words for you  
  
Each time I say something I regret

I cry I don't want to lose you  
But somehow I know that you will never leave me, yeah  
  
Cause you were made for me  
Somehow I'll make you see  
How happy you make me  
  
I can't live this life  
Without you by my side  
I need you to survive  
  
So stay with me  
You look in my eyes and I'm screaming inside that I'm sorry  
  
And you forgive me again  
You're my one true friend  
And I never meant to hurt you

Evanescence – Forgive Me

A smile slowly broke over Christy's face as she opened the letter, the words of the song still pounding through her head.

The letter was in the same messy, almost unreadable handwriting, but the message was completely clear.

_Hey Christy,_

_Sorry about today, I didn't mean to say what I did. You have so much talent that it almost comes out of your ears._

_I'm not too good at writing letters and stuff, so the song should pretty much explain everything else._

_Ray =)_

Christy laughed out loud as she folded the letter back up. "I think you say it just fine Ray. I really do."

A/N: I know… I know… a huge bombshell on the so-called 'perfection' of Roscoe High. I just couldn't have any mindless talking or anything in this chapter, and was absolutely DESPERATE to use this lyric.

There's no guarantees as to when the next chapter will be coming up, as I've already written the ending and am now working on more major scenes (yep… I don't just write straight). Chapter 4 is more about character and story development than anything else, and may be a bit lacking after this chapter, but there has to be balance.


End file.
